Wednesday, 12 June 2013

Let's Talk About Abortion

On Tuesday, Julia
Gillard launched ‘Women for Gillard’, a campaign aimed at reminding women of
Labor’s-and the coalition’s-record on women’s issues. It was partly inspired by
a similar campaign that Obama
ran in 2012.

The Prime Minister
raised a number of issues where she said she wouldn’t want to see women going
backwards- including superannuation, paid parental leave and education.

But it was two of
her comments in particular that have be splashed across the papers and repeated
by the media.

Firstly that “Women once again banished from the centre of Australia’s political life”
under a Liberal led government.

And secondly that “We don’t want to live
in Australia where abortion once again becomes the political plaything of men
who think they know better.”

The Sydney Morning Herald called it a “ploy
to attack Abbott” and Julie Bishop called it a “distraction”. The media and
some politicians seem to think that we don’t need to talk about it anymore but I think not.

Abortion has always
been a contentious subject. Feminists have long decried laws that prohibit
women from taking control of their own bodies, of which abortion definitely
falls under.

But hearing politicians, journalists and commentator’s talk-
both the supporters of a woman’s right to choose and the anti choicers- it
would be sensible to assume that accessing an abortion must be fairly easy for
a woman in Australia in 2013. After all, why would the anti-choicers be so up
in arms about it otherwise? Their words evoke images of thousands of thousands
of women each year taking the ‘easy’ way out and having abortions for
convenience. Of a simple request, walking into a centre and walking out no
longer pregnant. Like a 7/11, in and out, easy as pie.

In reality this far from the case.

Abortions on request are only available in two jurisdictions
in Australia- the ACT and Victoria. In 2002, Jon Stanhope and his Labor
government, with the help of the cross benchers, passed a law that made
Canberra the first place in Australia that had legalised abortion in full. Think
about that- it was only eleven years ago that abortion was legalised in full in
one tiny part of Australia. In 2008, Victoria followed suit. What this
legalisation means is that a woman can request an abortion, up to 24 weeks, for
no other reason than she does not wish to be pregnant. She can take control of
her body and not be pressed to ‘prove’ why she can’t have a child.

For the rest of the states and territories it’s a little
different. In Western Australia and New South Wales, abortion is legal if it is
determined that having a child would effect the woman’s health- mental and
physical; if the foetus is likely to be born with defects; if the pregnancy was
a result of rape; or if there would be serious personal, family, social or
economic consequences if they had a child.

In the Northern Territory, South Australia and Tasmania, it
gets more difficult. In these places, abortion is only legal if it is
determined that having a child would affect the woman’s health- mental and
physical; if the foetus is likely to be born with defects; or if the pregnancy
was a result of rape. So in NT, SA or TAS, too bad if you’re dirt poor and
can’t afford a child. You can’t argue that financially you can’t afford it,
unlike it WA and NSW. It also isn’t taken into account any personal, family or
social reasons why you wouldn’t want a child.

Then there’s Queensland. The only way you can obtain an
abortion in Queensland is if the pregnancy will cause serious harm to the
woman’s life. Abortions are not legal for any other reason, even in cases of
rape, incest or foetal defects.

This means a doctor, separate to the one performing the
abortion, needs to meet with the woman and decide for her if she should be
allowed to have an abortion. Someone else makes an extremely important decision
that could affect the rest of her life for her.

Labor is trying to say that they are the party women should
vote for- they will protect women’s rights. But their record on abortion is not
great in some states.

To give them credit, it was state Labor governments that
passed the ACT and Victorian abortion laws. But there is still a long way to
go.

So whilst the Prime Minister wants to broadcast Labor’s
record with women, it is obvious that both major parties have failed women on
this issue. And the worst part is- no one is fighting for it. The way abortion
gets reported in the media perpetuates the myth that abortion is easily obtainable
by women in all parts of Australia. Something needs to change, and we need to
make our voices heard if we respect a woman’s right to choose.

The Prime Minister talks about not moving backwards- but
what about moving forwards? It seems no party wants to do that.

3 comments:

Basically, this article explains that the only place in Australia where one cannot easily obtain an abortion is Queensland. Every other state includes provison for mental or psychological health, which is interpreted so broadly that any woman who wishes to not be pregnant can obtain an abortion on that grounds. For you to claim otherwise is disingenuous.

Completely disagree with anonymous - these states still have hoops which a women must leap through in order to make a decision about her body. And it is still in the hands of someone else to decide whether or not she's made a good enough case by whatever factor they care I measure by.

This isn't giving people easy access to abortions. It's easier than Queensland, but not easy.

It shows what a weak leader Gillard is. Every week it's feminism this, sexism that. A couple of months ago, she said the people of Australia will vote her out because Australians are not comfortable with a woman as leader! Give me a break. We are going to vote her out because she is a buffoon. For all the faults that Margaret Thatcher had, she never stooped to the politics of race, or sexism or anything of the sort. When asked by a student from a school she was visiting 'How do you feel to be the first woman PM?', to which Thatcher replied 'I'm also the first PM to have a degree in Chemistry, yet no one brings that up'. Gillard can never be respected in the way Thatcher was because she is constantly blaming everyone but herself; particularly Abbott. The quicker we as a society move away from defining everything by race or sex the quicker Federal politics can get out of the gutter.